Grandma Sues/Lois Is Pregnant
Grandma Sues is the ninth episode of season 4 of Malcolm in the Middle. Synopsis Ida visits the Wilkersons and slips on a leaf, thanks to Reese's neglect in raking the leaves when he was told to by Lois. This ends up breaking her back and needing constant care. Ida then decides to sue Hal and Lois for being indirectly responsible for that happening. Plot Malcolm is outside sleeping in a tent explaining Ida came to visit at the same time Francis and Piama came to visit. Due to him being at the library when they needed a volunteer to sleep outside, he had no choice. Lois calls Malcolm in for breakfast but the zipper on his tent is jammed. Inside, Francis and Ida are arguing about the proper way to butter toast. Lois asks Ida to pass the potatoes, Ida only states she has had enough, and asked if her chair had to break before she stop eating. Francis whispers to Piama that his family is worse than hers, Piama then states that her grandpa chopped the pinky off their milkman for bringing them 2%. Hal tells Ida he's ready to drive her to the bus station, as it is her last day of her visit. Ida claims the bus won't be arriving for another 3 hour, Hal states that there might be a parade. Malcolm comes in to find little to no food left, Lois only says he should have come when she had called him. When Ida is headed out the door, Lois wonders why Reese didn't rake the leaves in the yard. Reese claims he's waiting for the rest to fall first. Suddenly, Ida slips on one unraked leaf falling to the ground, breaking her collarbone much to everyone else's horror. Later, Malcolm is back in his tent struggling to keep his books on his lap and having to hold up a trashcan lid to avoid being sprayed by a sprinkler. Francis comes in telling Malcolm to help Ida unpack, as she is now unfit to travel, with Francis claiming she did it on purpose just to make the entire family suffer. Malcolm only responds that he finds it unfair he continues to be punished for something that's not his fault. Meanwhile, in Hal and Lois' bedroom Reese is at the computer when Dewey walks in wondering what he is up to, punching himself in the face to ensure Reese can trust him. Reese then asks him to show him how to turn on the computer. At dinner, Ida is having to be fed by Lois, due to a metal cage being used to help her heal, continuing to complain about the family's shortcomings. Francis asks Piama if she'll admit his family's worse, but Piama reiterates that her mother faked stomach cancer in order to avoid getting custody. After Ida goes to answer the doorbell claiming it's for her Malcolm comes in finding that they are eating witho even telling him, having scratches on his face due to an owl flying into his tent (claiming if he had known he was missing dinner he would've taken the snake out of the owls beak). In the parents bedroom after learning Ida plans to sue them Hal is furious, Lois tells Ida to think about her actions and how she is suing her own child. Ida refuses to discuss further and suggests they get a lawyer, before leaving the bedroom. Hal tells Lois, Francis and Piama he has had enough and he will toss Ida out on her cage, Lois argues they can't, Francis suggests killing her but his idea is shot down as well. During the argument Lois begins to feel sick and goes to the doctor with Hal. They find out that Lois is pregnant again, and much to their horror the doctor guarantees it. They tell Ida the news and wonder if she'll reconside, but she tells them to settle since they can't keep her legs closed. Meanwhile, Reese and Dewey dwell deeper into the plan. Later at night, Malcolm says sleeping is the only thing that makes his life worthwhile so he can pretend he's somewhere decent. Francis and Piama come into Malcolm's tent telling him they need to borrow it for two hours for some "alone time", Francis punching him so he'll comply. Inside the parents discuss how they can't afford the baby and they won't even be able to feed it. Hal decides to go get Lois some of her favourite ice cream to cheer her up saying they'll make it through, he gets in the car and breaks down in tears, crying out "why" over and over again, Malcolm is in the backseat eavesdropping on his fathers breakdown. Their problems become worse when Ida not only hires an unscrupulous lawyer, but also their house insurance is cancelled (due to too many late payments). Without any insurance, Ida will be able to evict them out of the house. Malcolm is told by Lois he can't come inside, with Malcolm gaining more annoyance for being the only one singled out for abuse while the others are all inside. Lois informs him that Francis and Piama took Reese and Dewey miniature golfing before shutting him out, for Malcolm this is the last straw. He furiously breaks the kitchen window and states he is still a family member regardless of how much everyone tries to forget, and demands to be informed of what is happening. Lois tries to tell him that its not his concern. Much to her dismay, Hal is fed up with her behavior and tells her to stop being a control freak for once in her life. He blurts out to Malcolm that Ida is being evil in suing them for an accident that wasn't their fault and blames Reese for the mess that they're in. Ida overhears this and isn't happy about Hal's choice of words. She tells the stenographer to add on how he hates her and how he's blaming her accident on Reese. Malcolm accepts this and is calm about her suing them. He mentions that they all know how evil, greedy and manipulative Ida is as a person in general. Thus, there is no need for Hal and Lois to hide this from him. However, the drama is far from over for the family. Hal also blurts out that Lois is also pregnant. Once Malcolm is informed of the pregnancy he blows up and rails on her for being stupid in adding to the financial strain to their family. When Francis, Piama, Reese and Dewey comes home from a game of miniature golf, he blurts it to everyone else about what's going on. Piama is calm about the pregnancy, while the other boys react in anger. Francis demanded to know why Lois didn't tell them about the lawsuit. He point out that they would've helped her out if she trusted the boys to tell them the truth. Dewey is obviously upset over not being the baby of the family any longer and going as far as accusing both their parents for ruining things for him. Reese is angry over Hal and Lois ruining his surprise birthday present for them, a building of a pool for the house. Having enough of the boys anger, she shouts at them and tells them to go to their rooms at once. The furious boys refuses to listen to Lois, having enough of her acting like a control freak. For the first time, she shows regret in shouting at them. The boys gang up on Lois and blame her for every one of their problem. Before leaving for their room, the boys swear revenge on her for everything that she put their family through by not telling them of the family's financial issues with Ida's lawsuit and the pregnancy. Piama notices this and decides she needs to talk some sense into them. In the boys bedroom, the boys plan for revenge against Hal and Lois for making their situation worse with the pregnancy and having not told them about the family's financial issues with the lawsuit. Piama stops this and calls the boys out for being selfish in all of this. Malcolm defends his and his brothers' anger at Hal and Lois. He mentions that they are allowed to be upset mentioning that their parents are screwing them over by not telling them about both their legal issues with Ida and adding to the problems is their mother's pregnancy. He mentions most of their remaining resources will go to that child alone. Malcolm stops for a moment in time and starts to realize it could be a girl. Piama wisely points out that it's the kind of behavior she's expecting from the boys because she too came from a similar dysfunctional family structure with an absentee mother and a drunk father. Therefore, she has the patience and maturity to handle serious situations. She reveals Hal and Lois' true reason they didn't let the boys know about the lawsuit and pregnancy. Piama mentions that they were trying to protect the boys from a potential hardship the family would have to face in losing both their home and their unborn sister if Ida continues her lawsuit. Given the boys' behaviour, she felt like she betrayed Hal and Lois' trust in her by telling them the truth. She asks them to think about their actions and the consequences that will follow if they help Ida win her lawsuit against Hal and Lois. Piama wisely mentions that if their parents lose the case to her and they end up going to jail, Lois would give birth to their potential sister while in prison. She mentions the boys would live in relative freedom away from their parents with Reese and Malcolm being emancipated and Dewey living with her and Francis in New Mexico. Piama mentions she will always be concerned for their sister because she would end up living in misery with Ida if the latter were allowed to raise her. In that moment, her words bring sense back into the boys and they realize she's right about their actions being selfish. While going through what she will need, the boys and Piama band together against Ida. Having learned about the financial trouble with the potential lawsuit and cancellation of the insurance, they show their support for Hal and Lois. Francis promises to send them money to help with the financial issues. Reese and Malcolm also promises to double up on beds, get jobs to help with the payment and could move their own things inside the garage. Dewey mentions that he is willing to give up his bed for their baby sister claiming it would be fun to have a busy box again. Lois thanks the boys for their generosity. She and Hal explains to Ida they no longer have homeowner's insurance. They also warn her that if she continues with the lawsuit they'll be financially ruined. Ida doesn't care and wants revenge on Hal and Lois for her accident. In that moment, the lawyer has an epiphany and willingly abandons her case, mainly due to his services not coming cheap. An angry Ida demands for him to stay on her case regardless and reminds him that she promised him 30% of her funds. The lawyer refuses and explains that even if she had won her lawsuit, she wouldn't have gained anything from it. He tells Ida off that because Hal and Lois have no Homeowner's Insurance, they're financially broke and are unable to pay reparations to her. The lawyer claims the Wilkerson's entire house would fit inside his own as a garage but he would have to park his Porsche in the driveway and while he has no problem throwing innocent people into the streets, he refuses to do it for free. The lawyer and the stenographer leaves the Wilkerson home. With no authority over Lois and Hal, she tries to make peace with them. Hal and Lois doesn't buy it and orders her to leave at once. Ida says she now feels well enough to travel. In the end, Malcolm explains everything worked out for the best. He got his room back, Francis and Piama are back in New Mexico and the best part is that Ida is back in her own apartment in Canada. However, Hal told the boys that women can become more volatile during pregnancy. He then runs in telling the boys someone left the cap off the toothpaste, all four of them run away in fear upon knowing Lois will be quite volatile with them. Cast *Jane Kaczmerek as Lois *Bryan Cranston as Hal *Christopher Kennedy Masterson as Francis *Justin Berfield as Reese *Erik Per Sullivan as Dewey *Frankie Muniz as Malcolm Guest Stars Recurring *Cloris Leachman as Ida *Emy Coligado as Piama Cameos *David Rasche as Lawyer *Mark Chaet as Doctor *David Weisenberg as a man Quotes :Hal: Well your evil grandmother is suing us! :is angry at Hal for revealing the family's legal issues to Malcolm :Ida: Do you hear that? He called me Evil. I want that on record. :Malcolm:calmly Ok, she's suing us. You don't have to keep that from me. It's horrible, but everything she does is horrible. No reason to..... :Hal: And your mother is pregnant. :Malcolm: PREGNANT?! ARE YOU NUTS!!!! THAT'S THE DUMBEST THING I EVER HEARD!! Trivia *Lois and Hal find out Lois is pregnant with Jamie in this episode. *In previous episodes, Malcolm technically wasn't the middle child, given that he's the second youngest of 4 kids. However, due to there being a 5th child in this episode, there are two younger than him, officially placing "Malcolm in the middle". *This episode first aired on Valentine's Day. *Malcolm and Dewey hear that Reese has never seen Charlie Brown before and take advantage of it by pulling off the infamous running gag from the show, where Lucy pulls the football away from Charlie before he kicks it. Category:Episodes Category:Season 4 Category:Episodes focusing on Lois Category:Episodes focusing on Hal Category:Episodes Focusing on Ida